So Much Life Part One (Meetings on a Golden Shore 'verse)
by fragrantfields
Summary: Bill and Laura's spirits have given Hatshepsut and Senenmut some privacy while they see what else is going on in the ancient world. After some exploring, though,they both begin to feel something's...different about their Egyptian incarnations, for better or for worse. They want to help (and they have to admit, it'd be nice to have physical, touchable forms again).
1. Chapter 1

_"By day write with your fingers; recite by night. Befriend the scroll, the palette. It pleases more than wine"_

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Their _kas _were drifting in a stream of nothingness, placid and comforting. They had slipped through their plane of existence all the way to an island of culture and grace, punctuated by bloody battles between warrior-dancers and bulls. Bill enjoyed the mythology of the Minotaur, sure that some remnant of Tauron culture had been retained over the centuries, which was a source of quiet pride.

Laura pointed out that the last "Tauron" she knew of personally had died over one hundred thousand years ago, and coincidence was a better explanation. For her part, she was fascinated that twelve worlds could maintain one theology through the centuries (other than some outliers) but here, it seemed like there was a different belief system every few hundred miles.

It was sweet to whirl through each other's mind, learning all the feelings and visions that were so hard to share when all they had were words. If there had been any tactile sensations, any human warmth, it would have been perfect, joined this way. They each were beginning to miss the feel of warm air on their skin, the touch of a hand, a shared kiss. Their _kas_ ' glow seemed to dim as time went on.

"You think it might be time to go back?" Bill couldn't suppress the hopeful note in his thoughts.

"Hmm…are you getting any indication of how they're doing?"

"I can try." The grey _ka_ pulsed slowly as he searched their plane for a familiar emotion, an intangible _something_ that felt like Senenmut. The pulsing was steady for a minute, then slowed.

"There's a new warmth in him. Kind of…loving but protective."

Laura gave a satisfied hum. "So things are still going well for them, it sounds like."

"No…I mean, probably, but this isn't about her. It reminds me of how I felt when I imagined being a father, what it'd be like to teach my son or daughter how to fly a Viper."

The lavender _ka_ flashed in turn, slowly at first, then speeding up. "This isn't good. I'm feeling love, too…seems to be focused on Senenmut but there's someone else. There's a lot of anger and worry on her part. And some sadness, some loss."

Her glow dimmed a bit. "I'm not sure I want to go back for that."

"If she's in distress, I'd like to be close, maybe try to give him some guidance. C'mon, let's see what's going on." He swirled around her. "Besides, it doesn't seem fair to just join them for the happy parts."

"You're right, of course, but I want to get a feel for what's going on before we join them, though. I want that much, at least."

"That's fair. We can do some recon before we make a decision," he said.

Laura took a last look at the temple she'd been exploring, noting that the bare-breasted snake priestess had a familiar jawline.

She wondered if Lee had ended up having children, and if the Adama DNA was strong enough to last a hundred thousand years. Her form quivered with amusement. Bill would love the idea of that. She let the thought flow over to him, the movement of their forms syncing again as they prepared to return to the plane of the living.

The young girl running through the side hall of the palace was disheveled and none-too-clean. Her kilt was slipping at the waist, her hands were stained with ink, and a mixture of honey and garden dirt smeared her face. One sandal went flying as she burst into the Great Hall, pulling up short at the rank of Royal Guards arrayed between her path and Hatshepsut.

"Step aside, Captain." Hatshepsut looked over the child, who now seemed to be on the verge of tears. A heavy frog-faced man, with bulging eyes and puffed-out cheeks waddled into the Great Hall as fast as he could, attempting to scurry and bow at the same time.

The girl looked between her red-faced pursuer and the stern woman seated in front of her. The woman wore a false beard of gold and enamel and held the signs of office, a gold and blue crook and red flail, crossed over her breasts.

The girl burst into tears and covered her face with her hands. 

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Hatshepsut turned to her chamberlain. "The portraiture is over for the day, it seems. Dismiss the artist and give him a royal token for the disruption." She glanced at the young man standing in front of his easel, the blue-tipped brush in his hand halted a few inches away from the stretched linen. His face mirrored the confusion she felt emanating from the newer members of court. "We will try again another day."

She nodded solemnly to the artist, the movement making the side straps of her ornamentation rasp against her cheeks, then turned to her chamberlain again. "Send for my maid as well. I would retire to the inner chamber and have these accoutrements removed before I attend to this other matter."

Senenmut, sitting quietly to one side of the throne, had looked up from his scroll as soon as the disturbance started. "Lady, what takes place here?" He shot a sympathetic look at the young girl.

Her lips quirked. "You've said on more than one occasion how you looked forward to meeting my daughter."

Senenmut raised a curious eyebrow, then schooled his face again to the impassivity favored at court.

"Neferure!" she called to the child. "Stop sobbing, child, and come with me and Count Senenmut. We'll see if he can think of a remedy for your distress."

The frog-faced man still sputtered, arguing in low tones with the captain of the guard.

"Chamberlain, tell Khamet that it appears he is not a suitable tutor for the princess. Fine him a month's salary for allowing her to burst into my presence in such a state, and bid him seek other quarters as well as other employment."

The Lady of the Two Lands resisted the impulse to scratch her chin, now itching under the false beard as she stepped down from the throne and made her way to her inner chamber. Senenmut followed, his scroll rolled neatly in his hand. The captain of the guard walked behind, one hand holding an ornate bronze spear, and the other holding the sticky hand of Neferure, Princess of the Two Lands.

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Hatshepsut chafed at the slowness of her new maidservant. "Bakt, the fastening is at each side." She held still for another clumsy attempt. "The side, I said!"

"Forgive me, Great Lady. I've not dealt with the royal beard before." The young woman's voice was humble but a side glance told Hatshepsut that Bakt was feeling put-upon by her duties.

"I rarely deal with it myself, Bakt, yet I have learned its ways, as it is part of my requirements of office."

She vowed she would send a lavish offering of the season's best fruit and a flagon of wine to Mandisa's tomb. Perhaps her _ka_ could be tempted to guide this one's awkward hands.

Slowly, the heavy false beard and its scratchy center of goat hair was removed and placed back in its coffer. She hoped the royal painter had captured enough of its likeness to forgo viewing it again…at least, on her person.

The heavy double crown was lifted off, and for a moment she missed Mandisa's gentle cool touch so much, she felt like joining her daughter, letting tears streak her face. Finally, enough of her official ornaments had been removed so she felt she could breathe freely again.

"Neferure? Where are you, daughter?" Hatshepsut asked as she realized the chamber had gone quiet.

"She's right here, Lady. The Princess wishes to review the granary reports." Senenmut's voice was full of good humor. She turned in her chair to see her daughter and her beloved studying his opened scroll, the child reading the inscriptions as he ran his finger over the words.

"The Princess has vanquished another tutor, it would seem." She gave him a rueful smile. "That's the third one this season."

"Really?" He regarded the little girl seriously. "What is the Princess's complaint?"

Hatshepsut's heart warmed as she watched them together, Senenmut's gentle questioning drawing out the child's accounts of boring lessons and her tutor falling asleep in the afternoons after too much wine with his midday meal.

_He is good with her. He would have made a good father._

Her belly twitched as if sensing her pang of sadness. Her courses has ceased early, soon after Senenmut came to her, as Mandisa told her had been the case with her own mother. Not that there weren't days when she was quite sure she had several children, each named Neferure, and each spinning in a different direction.

"Great Lady, I believe you may have a budding scribe on your hands. The Princess has a good hand with a reed." He beckoned her to the table to show her the inscription Neferure had inked.

"Senenmut, that's an official document of record," she said warningly.

"I know that, Lady…is it not one of my own reports?" he retorted.

Neferure was looking up at him with adoring eyes already, as he spoke up for her to her royal mother, Hatshepsut noted.

"I've kept her from Court for good reasons, Steward. Reasons I'm sure you can understand. She now needs a tutor to instruct her in palace life, as well as her studies." She chewed on her bottom lip, unwilling to discuss her daughter's situation in front of her any further.

"Is she of interest to others at court?" he said quietly.

"One other in particular, yes."

"You mean my brother, the Prince, Great Mother?" the child piped up, brow knitted.

Hatshepsut's heart sank. "You've…met Prince Thutmose, my daughter?"

"No, Great Mother, but Khamet spoke of him often, and sometimes drank wine in his apartments." Her daughter's dark green eyes were free of guile as she described her tutor's relationship with her half-brother.

"No worries need trouble you, child. I would have you study some more with Count Senenmut for the moment. I need a word with the captain of the royal guard."

She mouthed "keep her busy" to her beloved, then turned to find her guard. She doubted the frog-faced tutor had left the palace yet. He was the type who would want another meal, another flagon of wine at Pharaoh's expense. She hoped he had enjoyed it.

It would very likely be his last.

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"It was the little girl. That's where his feelings are coming from," the gray _ka _said with a pleased tone.

"I should have known her feelings were around her daughter and that step-son of hers."

"She didn't talk much about her daughter when we were here before, did she?"

Laura's _ka _turned ruddy for a second. "She was distracted by her and Senenmut becoming lovers, but the thought of her little girl, Neferure, was never out of her mind. It was like…it felt safer to have her at a distance."

"That's gotta be hard."

"It was. And now she's terribly guilty and afraid she's handled things all wrong. She let her guard down."

"He'll need to be there for her in ways he doesn't even know yet," the gray _ka_ observed.

"It's still so hard for her to give over some of her burdens. She misses being able to talk things out with Mandisa."

The forms floated together in silence. Finally, they pulled apart. "I think we could help, Laura. And…I'd like to feel what he's feeling again."

"I'll be able to really see how my baby girl has grown. It doesn't seem that long since I was with Hatshepsut when she held her the first time."

"Ready?" he asked.

"See you on the other side, Husker."

Their shapes touched a final time, then disappeared.


	2. So Much Life, Part Two

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_"Is there anything sweeter than this hour? for I am with you, and you lift up my heart -"_

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The table was covered with papyrus, scrolls, and ink-stained reeds, a few loose scraps with scratched-out figures littering the floor of the study. Two empty winecups sat forgotten at the edge of the table from the night before. Nearby, candles guttered their last bit of light as their wicks leaned into the pools of melted wax.

Black kohl was smeared and ashy at the corners of Hatshepsut's eyes, blending with the dark circles underneath. She realized her feet had fallen asleep in the night as they'd worked. She began wiggling them, wincing as the circulation came back.

"Steward, I admire your diligence, truly, but I swear by Blessed Nuit, I did not intend to spend all of the night with reports and numbers."

Her lover bore an unseemly scruffy shadow over his features, and his eyes looked as bleary as hers felt. He stretched in his chair, laying his reed down.

"Nor did I, Lady. I had in mind a more pleasant purpose to the night, until the accountants stormed our chambers."

She shook her head and gave him a stern look, softened by the slight curve of her lips. "Do you still not understand the power you wield, Beloved? You're not just Steward of God's Wife anymore, you know. And when the Chief Treasurer of Egypt orders reports, by all the Gods, he will get reports." Her tired eyes held a twinkle of amusement.

"Your words are true, Your Highness, as always. I just did not expect so very many, nor that they would be brought so quickly."

"Or so insistently?" she teased.

The vizier and veritable hordes of accountants from most of the municipalities had descended on the royal court within two days of his request for the annual full national accounting of stores. No one, it seemed, wished to be the last one reporting. The bureaucrats still didn't seem to know what to make of the commoner who had risen to be Pharaoh's right hand, but all knew he wielded enormous influence and power. Each one had no doubt sworn to themselves that they would not give any grounds for their honesty and loyalty to be questioned.

Not after Senenmut had brought the mayor of his estate's city to trial for tax fraud and other crimes against the Two Lands. He had begun his investigation hours after their royal yacht had docked, one discovery leading to another, then another, spanning more than a season. The trial had been fair, and Senenmut had scrupulously produced a dozen pieces of evidence verifying the man's avaricious crimes.

Personally, she would have been happy to authorize any sentence Senenmut had seen fit to impose. Hanging was too good for a rich man whose greed could put less fortunate citizens at risk of starving, to her way of thinking. But Senenmut had presented her with past trial records going back to her father's time, and the time of his father before him. There had simply been inadequate precedent to impose a death sentence for such theft, even of royal taxes.

Senenmut's counsel had been bolstered by an unexpected ally-Hatshepsut's own child. She should have seen this coming, and had had to admit, if only to herself, her annoyance was mixed with no little pride.

After many months under Senenmut's tutelage, Neferure had grown in maturity and statecraft. Too long sequestered with only much younger children as playmates, she had taken to court life as a duck takes to water, soaking up the surface and the hidden ways of things with Senenmut guiding her course.

Her daughter's hand had been obvious in the final report Senenmut had provided, her reed strokes almost as defined and bold as his. It had been a struggle for Hatshepsut to let the rule of law take precedence over her instinct to protect her people. This was what she'd wanted Neferure to experience, though-the effort it could take to find the right balance between justice and power.

She hoped her child would find her own balance. Sometimes the right of things had to give way to what was most wise, such as one man serving as an example to others who would do harm to those under his care for the sake of having more for himself. She smiled to herself, thinking of her daughter watching them debate the proper course of action as though she watched actors in a play. If nothing else, the mayor's misdeeds had been a valuable object lesson for Neferure, as well as every other mayor in the land.

Senenmut's touch brought her out of her reverie. "Have you gone elsewhere, Lady? I suggested that we get some rest before the day proper begins. I would welcome a couple of hours in bed with you in my arms, even though that might well defeat the purpose of our repose."

Tired as he had to have been, his eyes shone bright with the color of the stones set in the arm bracelet she still wore.

"I cede to your suggestion, Steward. I confess the figures are starting to run together when I look at them." She pushed her chair back from the table and stood, stumbling against him.

He gave her a supporting arm. "What's wrong, Lady? Have you stayed seated too long?"

She stamped her left foot against the stone floor. "My accursed foot is still asleep. A moment, Steward."

He chuckled as he scooped her up in his arms. "Your foot has more wisdom that do you, Lady, as it knows better it's past time to sleep."

She swatted his shoulder lightly. "How can you still joke with a light heart after the day and night we've spent? Are you not weary as I? Put me down and we'll go seek our couch."

His grip on her tightened, his arm sturdy under her knees. "I think not, sweet one." He kissed her lips as they curved in pleased surprise. "I think I can bear Pharaoh's weight the length of a hallway or two."

"Senenmut…you will give the impression to the guards and servants still awake that we're in the first blush of love."

Hatshepsut wound her arm around his neck and kissed him at one of the places she loved best, where the column of his neck met his collarbone. His shudder in response sent heat through her core, even as tired as she was.

"So be it, then. Thoth himself would find no falsehood in the spirit of that statement, even after all this time."

She relaxed in his arms as he carried her out of the inner office that was now crowded with their work, down the hall to the royal sleeping chambers. The guards posted outside remained expressionless, gazes firmly to the front. The one yawning servant they passed started to raise a finely drawn eyebrow at lovers frolicking in the night in an open hallway, then turned his eyes away as recognition of their identities dawned.

Hatshepsut buried her face against his shoulder as she suppressed a giggle. "I thought our days of scandalizing the court staff were behind us."

"Hush your foolish words, woman. We have many such days—and nights—ahead of us," he teased.

The captain of Pharaoh's guard stood in the shadows of the tall pillars in front of the royal sleeping chambers, immobile as one of Senenmut's statues. Two tall pillars holding oil lamps the size of torches stood on either side of the doorway into the royal sleeping chambers, adding their light to the smaller sconces lining the long tiled hallway. The figures painted on the wall murals seemed to come alive in the flickering light.

A young boy aimed a wooden spear at a fat river fish, the water seeming to flow through the reeds as he readied his throw. A group of three dancing girls, arms and waists bedecked with golden chains and jewels, seemed to sway to music only they could hear.

The palace was a different place in the still of the night, and Hatshepsut could feel the _kas _of all who had walked these halls before her. At times like this, when it felt like she and Senenmut were the only people awake, the presence of the loving _kas _of her ancestors was so strong, she could almost see them.

She knew, beyond memory or official accounts of history, that at least two of the _kas _she felt had been lovers, even if their story wasn't in any scroll of love poetry or fable. The thought made her smile as she listened to his strong steady heartbeat.

"Your foot is again ready to serve you, Lady?" he said, smiling.

"I'm sure of it." She glanced pointedly at the dozing figure in the carved chair outside the sleeping chamber as he put her down. "Although it seems to be the only one."

"Sadeh!" she said in a louder tone. Her maidservant came awake with a start.

"My lady, I'm sorry…I fell asleep waiting," she mumbled, eyes firmly fixed on her feet. Her pleated linen dress was wrinkled, the pleats having lost their starched appearance as she slept. She had obviously made herself comfortable, curling up in the large chair and, by all appearance, had let herself fall into a deep slumber. Strands of hair had begun to work their way loose from her braids, and a sleepy hand had wiped a streak of kohl from her lashes to her cheek.

Senenmut stood next to Hatshepsut in the entryway, his arms folded, a frown etched into his features.

"Shall your mistress stumble through her bedchamber in search of a lamp, then, to keep from troubling you further? Or will you stand to your duties?"

A pang touched her heart as Hatshepsut remembered long nights spent in court business, being weary beyond measure, and coming upon old Mandisa, waiting patiently to give her tired charge some comfort. This one had not Mandisa's touch, or attitude, any more than Bakt or the others had. None of them has had her heart, not a tenth of it.

The young woman bowed and lit a small rush from the lamp's flame, then hurried to light the bedchamber's alabaster lamps. Hatshepsut sighed. In Mandisa's time, there would have always been a light or two burning in her absence, the old woman keeping the wicks trimmed and the belly of the lamps filled with sweet oil.

Senenmut's brow had cleared as he led her into the chamber._My own bedchamber, and he takes the role of gracious host._ The thought made her flush with pleasure.

Sadeh stood nervously by the dressing table, clearly unsure whether she should begin the usual lengthy ritual of preparing her mistress for bed. Finally, Hatshepsut took pity on her as she sank down onto her dressing table bench.

"Fetch me rosewater and a cloth, indolent one, and get you to your sleeping mat. I will have higher expectations of you come daylight."

She heard Senenmut cover a snicker with a feigned cough.

"Good thing I've retained those skills I bragged of to Mandisa, on our first night together," he muttered.

The maidservant, now fully awake and obviously aware of how badly she'd failed her mistress, set the flagon of rosewater down by Hatshepsut's hand, splashing a few drops on the table.

"Oh, for the sake of Blessed Bes! Go away from me now," she exclaimed as the hapless maidservant scurried out of the chamber, bowing every few steps. The door had barely closed when Senenmut laughed heartily, shaking his head.

"By the Gods, beloved, on what evidence do you base your higher expectations of her, come morning proper? I confess I don't see it."

"Overwork has rendered me senseless, I suppose," she said, rolling her eyes as she dipped a facecloth in rosewater. "Could you please ask Nuru for suggestions of yet another maidservant? Truly, this one may be well-born enough, but she's…she creates more unhappiness than she soothes away."

He worked his blunt fingers into the tight muscles of her shoulders as she cleansed her face.

"You miss her badly, don't you?"

"I do, so very much, Beloved. I need to be at ease in the little privacy I am able to carve out of my days." The gentle squeeze of his hand told her he understood what she left unsaid.

She missed far more than Mandisa's accomplished service; she missed the love and loyalty she had always felt from her old nurse. He had been silent by her side when they attended her milk-mother's interment, then, as now, letting his touch speak all that was in his heart. He and Nuru could have been brothers that day, setting out the old woman's favorite sweets and perfumed oils while Hatshepsut bid her a peaceful journey to the Land of the Dead, whispering her final farewells under her breath.

Senenmut bent to kiss her smooth tan shoulder. "I will speak to Nuru when I return to my apartments. As for that one…I'm of the opinion you should send her to off to another master as soon as possible. She's naught but a reminder of the one whose place she takes, and ill-suited to be your maidservant in the bargain."

The knock on the door made her jump. "If that useless maid has returned to plead her case…"

"Inept and thick-headed as well, it seems. Finish your ablutions, Lady, and I'll deal with her."

Senenmut went to the door and opened it, revealing not the chastised maid, but the captain of Pharaoh's guard, looking uneasy but resolute.

"My lord, I beg a word with the Great Lady."

"At this hour, Captain?"

"It's all right, Count Senenmut. Captain Henenu would not impose on my privacy lightly." She sighed and rose from her dressing table.

The tip of Henenu's spear gleamed in the lamplight. His kilt was as starched and folded as if he had just come on duty, his tall, wiry body arrayed with his badges of office that indicated he was the last layer of defense for his ruler. The members of Pharaoh's guard tended to fade into the background after all these years of having them ever-present, but Henenu had always stood out from the rest.

Henenu had been with her since he was simply "captain of the Queen's guard," remaining her chief officer of protection after she ascended Pharaoh's throne. She trusted him implicitly, even as she wished he could have waited until morning to have his word.

"Speak your piece, Henenu. As the Count implies, the hour is late, and my day is still not done."

The officer moved into a formal reporting stance, his spear carefully shifted to one side.

"I see that the new maidservant has been sent away, Great One. A wise move, as I have observed her these recent days, and she has shown a lack of fitness to serve Pharaoh as she should."

"Do you keep me from my couch to inform me you concur with my decision, Captain Henenu?" Her tone had turned peevish, and she regretted it as she watched a flush stain the officer's cheeks.

"Great Lady…I have a sister, a widow, living by the Temple of Isis near the palace. She is a dressmaker to a number of the ladies of the court, and has a fair hand with hair and cosmetics. If it would be your wish, I can send for her now. She would be a safe replacement for that sluggard of a maid until other arrangements are made."

Hatshepsut hid her smile as she glanced at Senenmut, who was looking a bit wide-eyed at the officer. It was the longest statement she'd ever heard from the man, and his unease coupled with his determination was unexpectedly touching.

"A kind offer, Henenu, but one you make without consulting your sister, and so perhaps may be unwise. If she had ambition to my service, surely this subject would have been broached long before now."

"I need not talk with her to know she would serve with a willing heart and all the craft which she possesses. Her love for Pharaoh…for _Hatshepsut, _is great."

There was something unspoken in the man's eyes. Tired as she was, Hatshepsut was curious.

"Explain your words, that you distinguish between 'Pharaoh' and myself, Captain."

His flush deepened. "My sister has two sons, Lady. One a metal crafter, one a scribe. She remembers our father falling in your father's campaign, the last one against the Kush."

She felt Senenmut stiffen beside her. "Your father fought in that last campaign? A bloody battle, hard-fought by Egypt's sons," he said.

"He did, my lord. My sister had word of his death the day she was brought to bed with the birth of my eldest nephew. Nebit has made offerings every season for peace, so that her sons will not needlessly die on foreign fields." He looked down at his polished sandals, then raised his head to meet her eyes. "She honors Pharaoh, as do we all, but her prayers are for Hatshepsut, as the bearer of the title.

"She believes that your rule has been an answer to the prayers of the mothers and daughters of Egypt. And thus, I know she would leave her couch and come to your side at this hour, if you have need of her." He had slowly regained his composure, and finally was again the stone-faced captain of the guard she was used to seeing.

"I accept your offer of your sister's services, Henenu. Your reasoning…and hers, gladdens my heart, hearing so often as I do the whispers that loving peace is a sign of weakness." She tugged a small scarab ring, carnelian and gold, off her finger.

"Go, give this to your sister once morning has come, and bid her answer my summons after the morning meal."

He took the ring and tucked it into his sash. "Many thanks, my lady. And who, then, may I bring this hour, to assist you?"

Senenmut stepped forward, a bold arm around Hatshepsut's waist. "Pharaoh is well-enough assisted for this one night, Captain. I will ensure she has all that she needs before I seek my own couch in my apartments."

She couldn't tell if it was a trick of the firelight or if the officer's mouth had given an involuntary twitch at Senenmut's words. Henenu was well aware that there were nights when Senenmut entered her private quarters at day's end and did not leave until morning. And she felt freer to show affection towards her lover when her trusted captain was on duty, knowing he would not contribute to the whispers that Pharaoh's steward exerted undue influence on her decisions.

Still, she appreciated Senenmut's care for appearances. He did well at pulling her back from her impatience at their facade.

Henenu was waiting patiently for her to dismiss him, his eyes telling her he understood Senenmut's words well enough, but no one but she had the authority to bid him leave.

"You may go, Captain, and Pharaoh thanks you—and your family—for your service. Please advise your sister to wait until well after mid-morning, though, to answer my call."

He bowed deeply to her, nodded gravely to Senenmut, and turned without a word, spear once again held at the ready and his back as straight as his weapon.

Senenmut shut the door behind the departing officer.

"A kind offer, Beloved, even if the timing was burdensome."

She hugged his waist for a second, then stepped back to her dressing table. She sat and took up her facecloth again and poured a few more drops of rosewater onto the fabric, making quick work of removing the last traces of kohl.

"I confess it did my heart good to hear that my peace-keeping policies are welcomed by at least the females in the citizenry. And if his sister is as loyal and devoted as is he, I may actually be able to feel easy in my own chambers again."

She folded the damp cloth neatly and set it by the rosewater. She almost felt refreshed, but knew that as soon as she lay down and listened to her love's soft, deep breathing and the rhythm of his heart, she'd be lulled to sleep. She leaned against him and turned to curve her arm around his hips. The smoothness of the front of his kilt told her his weariness was as great as hers.

Reading her gesture accurately, Senenmut pulled her up from the bench.

"Come, sweeting, let me turn down the lamps and see us to bed." He ran his fingers over her cheek, tracing the line of her cheekbone to her temple and caressing her there. "We will lie abed come morning, and steal an hour then."

He untied her sash with a deft hand and tossed it on her bench, then unhooked her collar and placed it on the dressing table. She sighed happily as he unfastened the ties of her dress and removed it from her body, placing it by the discarded sash.

"It feels good, only you attending me, Steward."

He crossed the room to take her robe from its chest, then tossed it to her, grinning. "Shall you grace me with another title, La'ra? 'Dresser of Pharaoh' or some such?"

She lay the robe on the bench, within easy reach in the morning, and walked to him, graceful in her nakedness. Being with him this way, even now, made her feel as sensual as the supple dancers in the hall mural. And she could see in his eyes that he knew this, and it delighted him.

"'Undresser and Official Seducer of Pharaoh' is closer to the truth, is it not, Count Senenmut? I can see the words now, in fresh ink on a new official scroll." Her lips turned up in a teasing smirk as he got into bed.

She slipped in beside him and fitted her body against his, her head resting on his steady chest. At times like these, even when love-making was not part of their night, she felt as though they were two halves of an artfully worked whole, fitting together as if they had always been made for each other.

He stroked her back in long, even movements, his touch on her hip promising more gratifying sensations when they'd both had their rest.

"I ask one favor from my ruler, Lady." He pulled her closer, nudging his thigh between hers.

"Hmm? What favor is that, my loyal subject?" Her eyelids grew heavier with each passing second.

"Only let me be present when you tell your vizier of my new title," he said. "I would see his face as he instructs the royal scribe."

Their soft chuckles caressed their ears as they fell asleep, strange sights and sounds slowly beginning to weave through their dreams.


End file.
